@inbook {Urgeles2012, title = {{Distinguishing sediment bedforms from sediment deformation in prodeltas of the Mediterranean Sea.}}, booktitle = {Submarine Mass Movement and Their Consequences, Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research}, year = {2012}, pages = {233{\textendash}244}, publisher = {Springer Netherlands}, organization = {Springer Netherlands}, address = {Dordrecht}, abstract = {Most Mediterranean prodeltas show undulated sediments on the foresets of their Holocene wedges. These features have been described all along the Mediterranean and interpreted as either soft sediment deformation or, more recently, as sediment bedforms. We present a detailed analysis of these features using ultrahighresolution seismic and bathymetric data, as well as geotechnical information and hydrodynamic time series and hydrographic transects. We show that the characteristics of the sediment undulations (morphology and configuration of the reflections down section and between adjacent undulations) are incompatible with a genesis by sediment deformation. {\textcopyright} Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012.}, keywords = {Prodeltas, Sediment bedforms, slope failure, Undulated sediments}, isbn = {978-94-007-2161-6}, doi = {10.1007/978-94-007-2162-3}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84904091924\&partnerID=tZOtx3y1}, author = {Urgeles, Roger and Cattaneo, Antonio and Puig, Pere and Liquete, Camino and De Mol, Ben and Sultan, Nabil and Trincardi, Fabio}, editor = {Yamada, Yasuhiro and Kawamura, Kiichiro and Ikehara, Ken and Ogawa, Yujiro and Urgeles, Roger and Mosher, David and Chaytor, Jason and Strasser, Michael} } @book {LoIacono2012b, title = {{The habitats of the Cap de Creus continental shelf and Cap de Creus Canyon, northwestern Mediterranean}}, series = {Seafloor Geomorphology as Benthic Habitat. GeoHab Atlas of seafloor geomorphic features and benthic habitats}, year = {2012}, pages = {457{\textendash}469}, publisher = {Elsevier}, organization = {Elsevier}, abstract = {Continental shelves and submarine canyons represent peculiar environments that are geologically heterogenous on a small spatial scale (form hundreds to tens of meters) and therefore play a central role in increasing the ecosystem biodiversity. The Cap de Creus continental shelf and Cap de Creus canyon are located in the southernmost sector of the Gulf of Lions, in the northwestern Mediterranean. The Cap de Creus continental shelf contains sandy and muddy sediments and an abrupt morphology, with rocky outcrops, relict bioherms, erosive features, and planar bedforms. The Cap de Creus canyon breaches the shelf at a depth of 110 m and denotes a marked difference in the morphology between the northern and the southern flank, reflecting a different depositional regime. The most common substrates correspond to coarse and medium sands (28\%) and silty sediments (40\%). The most common megabenthic assemblages of the shelf correspond to the communities of "offshore detritic" (31.95\%) and "coastal terrigenous muds" (36.99\%), mostly dominated by sea pens, alcyonaceans, and ceriantharians. The northern flank of the Cap de Creus canyon is predominantly depositional, whereas the southern flank is erosional. Rocky outcrops provide the substratum for cold-water coral (CWC) communities{\textquoteright} development, in which the white coral Madrepora oculata is the most abundant species. {\textcopyright} 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.}, keywords = {Continental shelf, Geomorphology, Habitat mapping, Northwestern Mediterranean, Submarine Canyon, swath bathymetry}, isbn = {9780123851406}, doi = {10.1016/B978-0-12-385140-6.00032-3}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84883461551\&partnerID=tZOtx3y1}, author = {Lo Iacono, Claudio and Orejas, Covadonga and Gori, Andrea and Gili, Josep Maria and Requena, Susana and Puig, Pere and Rib{\'o}, Marta} } @article {Urgeles2011, title = {{A review of undulated sediment features on Mediterranean prodeltas: distinguishing sediment transport structures from sediment deformation}}, journal = {Marine Geophysical Research}, volume = {32}, number = {1-2}, year = {2011}, month = {apr}, pages = {49{\textendash}69}, abstract = {Most Mediterranean prodeltas show undulated sediment features on the foresets of their Holocene wedges. These features have been described all along the Mediterranean for the last 30 years and interpreted as either soft sediment deformation and incipient landsliding, and more recently, as sediment transport structures. We perform a review and detailed analysis of these undulated sediment features using ultrahigh-resolution seismic and bathymetric data as well as geotechnical information and hydrodynamic time series and hydrographic transects. In this study we show that the characteristics of the sediment undulations (configuration of the reflections down section and between adjacent undulations and overall morphologic characteristics) are incompatible with a genesis by sediment deformation alone and do not show evidence of sediment deformation in most cases. Various processes in the benthic boundary layer can be invoked to explain the variety of features observed in the numerous areas displaying sediment undulations. {\textcopyright} 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.}, keywords = {Hyperpycnal flows, Internal waves, Prodeltas, Sediment waves, slope failure, Undulated sediments}, issn = {0025-3235}, doi = {10.1007/s11001-011-9125-1}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-79961209935\&partnerID=tZOtx3y1}, author = {Urgeles, Roger and Cattaneo, Antonio and Puig, Pere and Liquete, Camino and De Mol, Ben and Amblas, David and Sultan, Nabil and Trincardi, Fabio} } @article {LoIacono2010, title = {{Large-scale bedforms along a tideless outer shelf setting in the western Mediterranean}}, journal = {Continental Shelf Research}, volume = {30}, number = {17}, year = {2010}, month = {oct}, pages = {1802{\textendash}1813}, abstract = {High-resolution multibeam swath-bathymetry and sediment samples were collected across the outer shelf region of the Columbretes Islands (southern Ebro continental shelf, western Mediterranean Sea). Bathymetric data from the submerged part of the Columbretes volcanic system revealed the presence of three main relict sand bodies along the outer shelf, at 80-116. m depth range, above which asymmetric and slightly asymmetric large and very large 2D and 3D subaqueous dunes were observed. These bed features were recognized, mapped and quantified with the aim of evaluating their potential formation mechanisms in relation to the local hydrodynamic and morphologic settings of the area. Dunes range from 150 to 760. m in wavelength and from tens of centimeters to 3. m in height, and are among the longest ever recognized in an outer shelf region. These bedforms are mostly composed of medium-sized sandy sediments, presumably coming from the degraded relict sand bodies on top of which they have developed, mixed with fine fractions from the recent draping holocenic sediments. The orientation of the dunes is SSW, progressively turning W towards the southernmost sector of the area, following the trend of the shelf-edge. Contemporary hydrodynamic measurements at the Ebro continental shelf-edge show that recorded currents are insufficient to form the observed bedforms and that stronger currents are required for sediment mobilization and dune formation. Based on their morphology and orientation, it is proposed that these bedforms are produced by the action of the southward-flowing Liguro-Proven{\c c}al-Catalan (LPC) geostrophic current. The LPC probably reaches high near-bottom currents during energetic hydrodynamic events through interactions with the seafloor morphology of the study area. Subaqueous dunes are expected to be basically inactive features with respect to present-day processes, although they can be reactivated during high-energy events. The small $Δ$h/${\l}ambda$ ratio measured in the dune fields of the Columbretes shelf revealed that the dune heights fall below the values predicted by the Flemming (1988) global equation, as observed in other outer shelf settings also dominated by unidirectional flows. This may suggest a different morphodynamic character of large dunes formed on outer shelves in a micro-tidal regime. {\textcopyright} 2010 Elsevier Ltd.}, keywords = {Continental shelf, Geomorphology, Subaqueous dunes, Swath mapping, Western Mediterranean}, issn = {02784343}, doi = {10.1016/j.csr.2010.08.005}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-77957596289\&partnerID=tZOtx3y1}, author = {Lo Iacono, Claudio and Guill{\'e}n, Jorge and Puig, Pere and Rib{\'o}, Marta and Ballesteros, Maria and Palanques, Albert and l{\'\i} Farr{\'a}n, Marcel and Acosta, Juan} } @conference {Urgeles2009, title = {{Sediment undulations on the Llobregat prodelta: Signs of early slope instability or sedimentary bedforms?}}, booktitle = {Rendiconti Online Societa Geologica Italiana}, volume = {7}, year = {2009}, pages = {103{\textendash}106}, abstract = {A field of sediment undulations has been mapped in the Llobregat River prodelta. similar features had been recognized in other prodeltas and interpreted either as deformation or sedimentary structures. therefore, proper interpretation of these undulations is needed for correct risk assessment. We evaluate the characteristics of the sediment undulations in order to determine the most likely process for the origin of these structures. these characteristics indicate that the sediment undulations on the Llobregat River prodelta do not result from sediment deformation. their identification as sediment waves implies that such features do not pose a major hazard for further offshore development.}, issn = {20358008}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84863328164\&partnerID=tZOtx3y1}, author = {Urgeles, Roger and De Mol, Ben and Puig, Pere and De Batist, Marc and Hughes-Clarke, John E.} }